When you think of gamblingAccording to scientist Heather Wardle, most people imagine “a traditional Las Vegas casino or buying a lottery ticket.” But the gaming industry has already scaled far beyond that. “Anyone with a mobile phone has access to what is essentially a casino in their pocket, 24 hours a day,” describes the researcher. The gaming sector boarded the digital revolution train a long time ago and this constantly expanding market has begun to crystallize. serious threats in terms of health. A scientific commission co-chaired by Wardle has published a report in the magazine The Lancet Public Health where he breaks down the dynamics of the gaming industry and warns of the health impact of this phenomenon: researchers estimate that around 80 million adults in the world suffer from gaming addiction. “It is a public health problem,” they conclude forcefully.
The scientific commission warns that the damage from gambling is greater than previously believed due to the global expansion of the market and the digital transformation of the sector. These activities are allowed in 80% of the world’s countries and, according to the commission’s scientific review, almost half of adults (46%) and 18% of adolescents on the planet have participated in gambling in the last year. “He marketing and highly sophisticated technology make it easier to start playing and harder to stop playingand many products now use design mechanisms to encourage repeat and longer engagement. The global growth trajectory of this industry is extraordinary; Collectively we need to wake up and take action. If we delay, gambling and the damage it causes will become an even more entrenched global phenomenon and much more difficult to address,” warns Wardle, who is a professor at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, in a release. The commission calls for stricter regulation to tackle the damage of gambling to health.
People who gamble more than four times a month or engage in more than two different types of gambling activities are already at increased risk of gambling harm, scientists warn. It doesn’t matter if it’s lottery, bingo, poker or sports betting. To a greater or lesser extent, all these games of chance and strategy where you bet money to get something (gamblingin English) carry a risk of problematic consumption.
The meta-analysis of the scientific commission of The Lancet Public Health concluded that more than 448 million adults in the world engage in some type of risky gambling (a pattern of gambling that increases the risk of harmful consequences to the physical or mental health of the individual or other people around them). Of them, about 80 million suffer from gambling addiction, the most severe condition associated with these practices. This complex behavioral disorder is diagnosed when at least four of the the parameters identified by the scientific community as risk behaviors. Having the need to bet more and more money to achieve the desired excitement, making unsuccessful efforts to reduce or stop gambling, lying to hide the degree of involvement in these activities, continually thinking about gambling, and losing or jeopardizing jobs or relationships personal injuries due to gambling are some of these warning signs.
People who gamble more than four times a month or engage in more than two different types of gambling activities are already at higher risk of harm from gambling.
Whether a person ends up developing a problematic game depends on various risk factors, says Susana Jiménez-Murcia, head of the Clinical Psychology service and director of the Behavioral Addictions Program at Bellvitge Hospital: “There are biological causes, with the involvement of different reward circuits in the brain related to dopamine; psychological causes, such as personality variables (impulsivity, low capacity for self-direction); and environmental factors, such as the supply, availability and advertising of these products or family history of gambling.” Both variables fertilize the breeding ground for developing risky behaviors that then lead to addiction.
In their analysis, the researchers explain how, in the heat of the growth of gaming options on-line —designed to be faster and more intensive—, this sector has been permeating society with new communication strategies and marketing opportunities aimed at mass audiences. For example, from sponsorship and association with sports organizations. “The introduction of in-game betting during live matches has made online sports betting instantaneous and has increased both its frequency and prevalence,” they explain.
Fast and continuous access
The industry has changed and the barriers between traditional gambling, the options on-line and skill video games are fading. In fact, betting dynamics are increasingly integrated into the architecture of many classic video games (an example is loot boxes, which are purchased to obtain in-game rewards) and, thanks to mobile phones, bingo and Lottery games are now continuously accessible and have faster play cycles.
These dynamics of open doors and blurred borders put one of the most vulnerable social groups at special risk: children and adolescents. Jiménez-Murcia details a practical example of the impact of these new phenomena: “Loot boxes are revolving doors: those who buy them are at greater risk of addiction to video games and are also at greater risk of entering into problematic gambling.” The scientific commission’s meta-analysis estimates that gambling disorder could affect 16% of adults and one in four adolescents who play online casino or slot machine products; and also 9% of adults and 16% of kids who participate in sports betting. “Exposure to industry messages and product advertising influences young people’s propensity to gamble and normalizes gambling within their peer groups. The effect is especially powerful among sports fans,” the scientists say.
“Loot boxes are revolving doors: those who buy them are at greater risk of video game addiction and are also at greater risk of engaging in problem gambling.”
Susana Jiménez-Murcia, director of the Behavioral Addictions Program at Bellvitge Hospital
The game involves, however, a much darker reality than what the flashy and colorful betting applications show. In addition to triggering short- and long-term financial problems, these practices increase the risk of suicide and domestic violence. Gambling is also associated—as a precursor or consequence—with other psychiatric disorders, such as mood disorders or addiction to alcohol and other drugs. A Swedish study revealed that people with gambling disorders have premature mortality rates 1.8 times higher than the general population.
The shock wave of problematic gambling also transcends the player himself and the damage to health extends beyond the gambling disorder. Researchers estimate that about six people, on average, are negatively affected by a person experiencing problem gambling. When there is a gambling disorder in the home, beyond the serious financial repercussions that this entails, intra-family conflicts also increase, trust is eroded, there is absenteeism in family responsibilities, roles are distorted and there may be family and sexual violence. gender. In fact, a meta-analysis estimated that 37% of people who experience a gambling problem have perpetrated physical intimate partner violence. The consequences of gambling take such a toll on the home that even children of parents with a gambling addiction also have a higher risk of suicide, depression, and developing gambling problems later in their own lives.
The perversion of “responsible gaming”
The scientific commission calls for “coordinated and urgent action” to tackle the “public health problem” posed by gambling. And he also harshly criticizes the concept of responsible gambling, which places all the weight on the affected person: “The regulation of harm caused by gambling still revolves mainly around the so-called responsible gambling paradigm, which maintains the focus on the people considered to be problem gamblers and diverts attention from the nature and behavior of the commercial gaming ecosystem.” Experts believe that framing the problem as an individual issue draws attention away from corporate behavior when the appropriate thing, they say, would be to “seriously examine the structures and systems that govern the design, provision and promotion of gaming products.”
Scientists demand “effective regulation” that protects citizens to prevent the dangers of gambling: “We recommend reducing the exposure of the population and the availability of gambling, through prohibitions or restrictions on access, promotion, marketing and sponsorship; the provision of universal and affordable support and treatment for gambling harm; and the denormalization of the game through awareness campaigns and marketing social well-endowed with resources.”
In this sense, Jiménez-Murcia, who has not participated in this commission, admits that in Spain “there is a unique phenomenon” with the christmas lottery: “It is absolutely normalized and is still a gambling game. The lottery It has a lower addictive potential than other games, but of the 5,825 cases (of gaming disorder treated at the Bellvitge unit between 2005 and August 2024), more than 400 Surely we have been associated with the lottery game. The prevention work that must be done is not to normalize the game,” he says.
Along the same lines, the commission issues a warning to governments in its report: “Although governments readily appreciate the revenues coming from the gaming industry and may even use gaming products for their own fundraising purposes, they generally underestimate the prevalence and severity of the social harm caused and the associated public costs.” Gambling is not harmless entertainment.
